February 27, 2025 • 42 mins
Gilmore Girls loves to reference iconic TV shows, but one rises to the top! It is the most referenced television show in Stars Hollow… and that’s Happy Days.
So, we needed to go deep with the MOST…DON MOST! We’re talking to Don Most aka Ralph Malph, star of Happy Days. You’ll love hearing his stories about one of the most legendary shows in TV history.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
I am all in again. Oh, I guess you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I Smell pop Culture with Easton Allen and I Heart
Radio Podcast. Hey everybody, Easton Allen, I am all in
Podcasts one eleven productions. iHeart Media, iHeart Radio, iHeart podcast.
It's I Smell pop culture. I smell pop culture. You
smell pop culture. We'll smell pop culture. And we're smelling
it here. Baby, we are back. We are exploring the
(00:40):
pop culture references in Gilmore Girls that we love. We're
going deeper than just listing them off. We're taking We're
taking a submarine into these references and we're exploring what
makes them a part of pop culture. We're talking to
the people that created them, that wrote these songs, that
play these characters, that are these people.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
It's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
My name is Easton Allen, and it's so great to
have you here with us. Something we love about Gilmore
Girls is that is the pop culture references. I mean,
that's the whole impetus for this podcast. And when you
look at the grand scheme of what they have done,
everything they've referenced, books, movies, television, real life people. There's
(01:23):
one TV show that rises above the rest, and the
fine folks at Vulture have tallied all the pop culture
references in Gilmore Girls and categorize them by you how
many what books were referenced, what movies, what songs? And
when you look at TV shows, the one that was
referenced the most is Happy Days. Five references to Happy Days,
(01:47):
and of course of Gilmore Girls more than any other
TV show. I'm not going to list them all here,
but I'm going to list my favorite one. In season two,
episode four, It's The Road to Harvard, Rory and Loralai
are walking around and Harvard campus pretending to be students,
and they have this lauraizes this like cringe conversation with
some real students versus pretending to be like, Oh, you're
(02:09):
gonna go the Pie Alpha Gamma thing tomorrow. And after
they leave, Roy says, Laura, you do realize that all
of your college kid jargon comes from Happy Days in
the Valley Girls song, right, such a sick burn. Besides
all the references, Happy Days in Gilmore Girls actually shares
an actor Mary and Ross. She was Mary in Cunningham
(02:30):
in Happy Days, she was the mom. She's also Tricks
in Gilmore Girls and Marilyn Tricks's niece. But we're not
talking to Mary and Ross today. We're talking to another
star of Happy Days. We're talking to Don Most. Don
Most played Ralph Mouth on Happy Days. And I don't
know how much Happy Days you guys have seen. If
you haven't seen that much, you are doing yourself a disservice.
(02:53):
You have to watch Happy Days. It's so funny. Ralph
Mouth is hysterical. He is so Everything he does is
so funny. He has such a great catchphrase, I still
got it, I still got it. It's so funny. We're
going to talk to Don mos all about that. But
here's the thing about Don Most. This man is a
layered performer. He is I mean, he was on one
of the most iconic and legendary sitcoms of all time.
(03:15):
But he's also he's directed movies, he guests starting a
million other shows, and he's a singer. This man has
the voice of an angel. He's got such an incredible voice,
and he's he's made some jazz albums. We're going to
talk about it all. We're gonna talk about Happy Days.
Don Mose is here with us. How's it going, Don, Oh,
It's going pretty well.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Thanks Thanks for asking it's a little cold. I live
in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Now, Oh wow, Yeah, I moved about.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
My wife and I moved here about a year and
a half ago, really liking it. Our daughter and granddaughter here,
so that was kind of the motivation. Oh excellent, we'll
pull right now.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, let's see. I want to go back to you
the beginning. I am so fascinated by Happy Days. It's
one of those it's just such a touchstone in TV history,
one of the most legendary shows of all time.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
How did you get involved with Happy Days? How did
that happen?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Okay? Well, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and
about the age of thirteen, I started going to a
school in Manhattan on Saturdays. I remember taking the subway
at thirteen from Brooklyn into Manhattan to a school a studio,
Charlie Lowe Studio. He was an old vaudeville performer and
(04:35):
he had a school for mainly kids and teenage uster singing, dancing.
I didn't really care about the dancing, but I had
to do some and acting, and that's when I started
going after it. And then I actually from there got
picked to beat in this nightclub review. So when I
(04:56):
was fifteen, I was part of this review of the teenagers,
seven of us singing in the hotels and nightclubs of
the Catskill Mountains, which was a big resort area upstate
New York where they had a lot of entertainment. So
that summer I was so that's like my first it was,
you know, singing really came before acting. But then I
(05:17):
switched my focus the next year really laser focused onto acting.
I really started getting into that and went to a
different school for that in New York and then started
getting I got a manager through that and going out
on auditions and doing doing a lot of TV commercials
(05:38):
and some little theater work, but you know, came real
close on a couple of Broadway shows. But then I
went out to LA This was this summer after my
junior year in college. I was twenty now, and so
I went out there to try to sort of plant
the seeds and so that when I graduated yor later,
(06:01):
i'd have some footing already. So I went out there
and I was able to get agent, and I went
out on auditions during the summer and booked a couple
of guest roles on TV shows. So then my agent
said you know, instead of going back to school, take
six months off. You got some momentum going, you know.
(06:21):
So I said, yeah, I think that's a great idea,
and you have to think more than a second. So
I didn't go back for my senior year for six months,
and then went to started going out on auditions, got
one or two more jobs, and then nothing for like
a couple of months, and then I thought I made
a mistake. But then my agent said, I'll have an
(06:45):
audition for you for a pilot for a new series
takes place in the fifties and called Happy Days. And
so that's how I went in on the audition. They
called me back. I did another one. Then I had
a screen test, and then uh, then I was screen
testing for the role of Potzi. Uh. But then but
(07:07):
they came back and they said that, you know, you
didn't get Pozzi. Anson Williams had and Ron Howard actually
screen tested, even though a year and a half earlier
they had done a pilot for the same show with
a different name, but it didn't sell. Now it's a
year and a half later, and and and Greece is
a hit on Broadway, and American Graffiti is a hit.
(07:31):
So they ABC was like, oh, we had a show.
And they went back to Gary Marshall and said, we
want to redo the pilot, but you know, you might
need to recast because they thought Answering and Ron might
be too old now because it was like two years later.
But Gary wanted Ron and Answer, but he had to
go through screen testing them along side a bunch of
(07:52):
other hopefuls, myself included. So they called me and said, no,
they've got to go with Ron and Anson and yeah,
and you know, but they liked your screen test so
much they want to sort of create a role for
you to be on the show. They said, there's a
small role in the pilot, a guy named Ralph, you know,
Ralph Mouth. He's he's into cars, He's got a cool car.
(08:15):
He's a bit of a wiresecracker, that's all I said.
And and so so I decided. So I decided I
would do it, and because I was up for another
role at the same time, and long story, and I
actually passed on Happy Days on the Friday night. But
then on Monday I changed my mind because my agent
(08:38):
played basketball at Gary Marshall's house on Saturday, and Gary
talked to my agent and sweetened the deal that they
offered me and and said told my agent they thought
it had a great chance of getting on the air.
So then yeah, because because the other one there was
a dramatic World War two TV movie and I I
(09:00):
was really more into dramatic, wanting to do drama. Then
all the parts that I had gotten leading up to
this one, except for one, they were dramatic roles. So
that's I was, you know, and I've said to my
I can do comedy, you know, if it's a if
the script is good and the writing's good, you know,
the character. So that's why I passed. But then now
(09:21):
after hearing what mys has said, so you know, we
decided burn hand, let's let's take it. And so that's
how that's how that came about.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's so interesting that you were more drawn to drama.
You're so funny in happy days, like you're hysteric. I
was watching the other day, like a clip on YouTube.
It was like best Ralph Mouth moments. Really yeah, and
it's every single time you say I still got it,
that just I burst out laughing. It's everything is so
funny that you do on that show.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Oh thank you, thank you. Yeah, well you know, and
I wasn't like that character, but you know, it's to
me that was the joy of acting. That's why I
was saying to you a little earlier that I loved
playing a wide variety of different kinds of roles, and
I've been getting to do that. It was tough, you know,
after Happy Days, because you're so associated with that character
(10:14):
and that style of comedy. So it was tough. But yeah,
I wasn't like that guy, but that, you know, that
was the joy of acting. And I was, and I
based him on people I knew, and in even our
director Jerry Parris reminded me very I said, he's more
like this character than I am. And I would, you know,
get ideas from Jerry steel things from him. As a
(10:36):
matter of fact, that line, I still got it. I borrowed,
stole it from That was what Jerry used to say
when he would when he would crack us up, and
he'd get a good laugh and say, I still got it,
you know. So one day I decided it wasn't in
the script, and we were doing a scene in Arnold's
in front of an audience, and I came was supposed
(11:00):
to come in the scene and say something funny and
the guy's crack up. So before we shot it, I
went up to Ron Howard because he was the one
in the doing dialogue right with me in that, and
I said, I'm not going to tell you what I'm saying,
but just get ready so that I don't throw you too,
which I'm going to say something that's not in the script.
I just decided it was a perfect time to do it,
(11:22):
and so I did it, and every day all cracked up.
The audience didn't even know, but they loved it, and
Jerry Parris was cracking up, and so then you know,
they loved it so much. Then the writers started putting
it in, you know, in different situations, and so that's
how that came about.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I'm so thank you for telling that story because I'm
so curious, how like when you have like a catchphrase
like that, I'm always curious, like is it I don't
want to say manufactured, but like, did the writers keep
putting it in? Hearing that you just added it and
then basically reaction from the audience, I mean, that's so
beautiful and organic it.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, and they wrote some of the others, you know,
like sit on it. I remember the writers came up
with that, and they were a couple of others. You know,
Henry Winkler came up with his own because his his
gesture and his a you know, that was something that
came from Henry. But uh, but there were a few
others that the writers did, but that one, Uh, that
(12:20):
one I owe to Jerry. But but it was a
good idea for me to use it that particular time.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yes, I mean, someone else invents the guitar, but it
takes an artist to play it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I think that's that's, you know, good analogy.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
There's a couple Your timing is so I don't want
to kiss you ask too much, don but your timing
is so great on that show too. There's a couple
of times that I was watching in this like clip
thing where you don't you say the line and then
you don't even really wait for the other characters to react,
so you just launch with I still got it. And
it's that makes it even funnier. It's just it's so
it's so great, and I was curious to like, so
(12:56):
in the first season, you're Ralph is kind of like
a like a side.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Character you're supporting.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, and then it's season two I mean your main cast,
you're rain core. What was that transition like, going from
getting bumped up like that?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Well, I mean it was great the evolution of that.
And I often tell people, you know, if they're maybe
introducing their kids to the show, or they say, oh,
I love the show, but I haven't seen it in
so long, and I know that there's reruns going on.
You know, you could see it now. So I often
tell people what you should do is watch it from
(13:34):
because you could do it now. Watch it from the
first show and chronologically take it because you'll see a
real evolution. And you're right at the beginning, you know,
they told me, you know, I was going to be this,
you know, it was a small character. But they they say,
we'll do seven out of thirteen episodes or something like that.
(13:54):
You know. But then we started, you know, they started
really liking what Harry too. Henry was just the same
supporting type of character. But we started doing some things
that they were really liking, you know, the producers and
the director and Jerry Parris, who was our director. I
would come up with things that weren't in the script.
(14:17):
I'd have ideas because I wanted to make it a
little bigger, you know. So I'd come up with things
and he'd really like it, and so we'd do it.
And we were not in front of an audience those
first two seasons, so you could do stuff like that.
It was like shooting a movie, you know. And and
so they the writers started seeing the producers, so they
started making it a little bigger, and slowly I wasn't like,
(14:41):
you know, it was Richie and Possi that were best friends.
Ralph who's like this guy that you know, they're kind
of friendly with, but you know, he wasn't core, like
you said. And then they started getting more friendly with Ralph,
and he'd started including me in more and more things,
you know, and it just kind of evolved in that way,
and like you said, by season two, it was even
(15:02):
probably towards the middle late part of season one where
where it was getting pretty good, and then season two
definitely even more so. And then in the third season
when we went in front of an audience, it probably
continued in that in that fashion.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Now, like if you stop someone on the street and
ask them about happy days, like they're probably going to
bring up Fonsie, you know, like that that's like he's
kind of the de facto mascot of the show. I'd say,
when when that character and like Henry's like popularity just
like went into the stratosphere, what was that like for
the for you and the rest of the cast.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Was it was there any like weirdness or anything like that?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Not really, no, I mean luckily, you know, people ask,
you know, how did you really get along that well?
And was it you know, because we say we were
like a family and all that, and then they were
wondering if how accurate that was, and and it was
for some it was. Well, you have to give the
executive producers a lot of credit for the casting of
(16:04):
the show, the way they picked their people, because there
was such a sort of immediate connection that we all
had and respect for each other and developed a real
fondness and affection and grew into we were really a
type family. And then when and we were rooting for
each other, you know, and then when when Henry really,
(16:27):
like you said, burst into this stratosphere, it was exciting,
you know, it's really exciting to see it. And we
knew it was good for the show, you know, so
we never really it wasn't the jealousy and that kind
of you know, resentment or anything like that. I mean,
there might have been a couple of moments here and
there where we would look at something that happened and
(16:51):
you know, like the network ABC, you know, would be
fawning over him so much, and you know and kind
of ignoring us. You know, yeah, you know, the gifts
like they give gifts at Christmas, and we'd all get
this sort of normal gift and then Henry got like
something crazy, you know, So then there was a little
like wait a minute, you know, we're feeling like what
(17:12):
are we chopped liver? You know. Yeah, but we didn't
have any uh any hard feelings in any resentment to
Henry at all, you know, I mean we was excited
and as Anson would say, why why would have you upset?
Henry bought me my house, you know, because meaning that
the show got you know, so popular and number one
(17:34):
in the country that you know, it kept going and
made everybody more money and so so I mean he
was joking, but it was a good joke. But anyway,
there were no there was none of that weird stuff.
It was all support and excitement and happiness.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That makes me happy that that is a hard woman
to hear, you and Anson became very close on the show,
and that's something I think. I know, you guys aren't
your characters. I mean, that's something you've had to deal
with forever. But like I think fans love hearing that
kind of things, like, oh, they're actually like they're close friends,
they hang out in real life. How did that friendship develop?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Well, you know, the friendship with all of us, like
I said, just happened pretty quickly and just kept growing.
So we were all really great friends. But I'd say
now like Anson and I like best friends, and we're
probably even better friends than we were back then. That
(18:37):
just you know, And there were some years where we
didn't see each other that much because after I left
the show after the seventh season, because they went for
four more years after I left, so I didn't see
Answer as much. And then we'd see each other here
and there, and he was very busy directing a lot,
and so it wasn't until we, I don't know, we
(18:59):
got together for some baseball game that we were playing
together and we just kind of said, hey, we got
to get together more. And then we started to and
we lived pretty close at this point. Twenty minutes away,
So we just started doing more and more things together.
Ron was now living on the on the East Coast,
and Henry was still out in California, but he was
(19:23):
busy and so I didn't see him as much. But Answer,
I just became tighter and tighter, you know. So like
now it's great and we're still all four, you know,
still friends. We have like a group text so that
the four of us, so that somebody texts, you know,
and we all get it and we chime in, and
so it's nice. It's a great way to keep it up,
(19:45):
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Oh that's all that makes me so happy that rules.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Is it true that you and Answer we're going to
have a spin off together?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, yeah, that was a whole thing. What happened was
they I guess they had the idea because they wrote
an episode where the two of us decided to share
an apartment together, and and you know, it became like
an odd couple kind of thing. It was a funny episode.
And then they then they showed it, you know, the network,
(20:15):
and they go, yeah, yeah, this could be a show.
And then they started talking more about it and they
wanted to cast a girlfriend for me, and we had
to bring in. We were reading with different girls, and
I initially, when the executive producers talked to me about it,
I wasn't sure I wanted to do that, because you know,
(20:37):
i'd been playing this role for five six years at
that point, I guess, and I knew what I was
going to be facing when it was over, trying to
get away from that so that I could play different
kinds of roles and not just that. So I wasn't sure.
And you know, we were doing great as a show.
I wasn't sure about it, but they they kept talking
(21:00):
to me and talked to me okay, made me think, okay,
let's do it. And then it looked like it was
I mean, they were already recording the title song, you know,
for it, and then all of a sudden we hear
ABC decided they're not going to do it. And I'm
not sure what what happened, but I wasn't too upset,
(21:21):
you know, I was kind of like, Okay, you know,
it's not going you know where. Maybe in a different situation,
I would have been pretty disappointed, but so I think
it's it's probably better that we didn't even go there,
because you know, spin offs are tough some of them.
I mean Happy Days had so many Yeah, and la Verne,
(21:43):
Shirley and Mork and Mindy didn't do too bad. But
there were a few others that I don't think you know,
that didn't make it. And it's it's always a little tricky.
So anyway, that's the story there, And like I said,
I was fine when when it didn't go.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Everything happens for a reason. Don Most is with us
from Happy Days. We have so much more to get into.
It's the ICE Smell Pop Culture Podcast. Stick around, everybody,
We'll be right back. It's the I Smell pop Culture Podcast.
We're here at Don Most, the legendary Don Most. Something
(22:27):
I really want to ask you about. I'm so curious.
I Ron Howard said that you were the one who
actually coined the phrase jumping the shark. Like that was
the story I heard on behalf of Ron Howard. Is
that you look down the script and you're like, we're
jumping sharks.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Now, that is that right?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Yeah? Well, yes, yeah, I mean he's right, And I
heard some people I think sent me a link to
the interview where he gave where he said that, and
he's right, But I don't know that the way it
caught on in our vernacular, if you will, in the culture.
(23:06):
I don't know how that whether the thread was from
me or not, because what happened was, like Ron said, uh,
this was about the fifth season, I think, and and
and I was starting. Ron and I talked a bunch
about this during that year because we felt that the
scripts just weren't great that year, you know, like it
(23:27):
was starting to get a little far fetched, or you know,
because Phonsie was character was so popular that I think
ABC started like pushing, you know, the right pushing the
executives of our show and producers you got to do
keep doing more with you know, with Phonsie. We loved
when he snapped his fingers and he made all the
(23:49):
animals stop making noise or whatever, you know, and that
was a funny bit. But then they just kept wanting
to do more and more of that, and it started
getting a little ridiculous, you know, and we were feeling
the scripts are just going in a insurrection, and so
then there was a reading Mondays. We would all sit
(24:10):
around the table, those cast, the writer's producers and read
through the script that was going to be done for
this you know, that week and to shoot that Friday.
So we're reading the script and you know, and then
after it's over, you know, Ron and I kind of
walked over to the side or something, and and Ron's
(24:32):
kind of like, you know, what do you think. I
don't know, what do you think about this script? And
I looked at it. It was right. I remember it.
I said, now they got him jumping a shark, and
and Roan remembered I'd forgotten that I had said those
exact words, but I think I did. I probably did.
(24:52):
I remember saying to him, now they got Phonsie doing
you know, viz and and so I I don't know
how that would have gotten beyond me and Ron so
that it got out there. But somehow, you know, I
guess these these guys that had some kind of I
don't know, I heard these guys had started started it
(25:15):
by saying this is you know, when a show they
coined the phrase jumping the shark, and that's when a
show starts to you know, it's hit its peak and
now it's starting to lose lose its lose ground. So
I don't he wasn't in the room and I said that.
So I don't know how it You know, so I
can't take credit, but I probably did say it first.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
I'm attributing it to you Don Moss here that you
came up with that phrase. Uh so moving on from
happy is a little bit that You've had so many
incredible roles. I want to ask you. There's one that
caught my eye that I want to ask you about.
You were on an episode of Chips Yes Rock Devil
Rock and anyone listening if you have, if you have
not done a Chip's Deep Dive, you should and you
(25:59):
should watch this episode. I think it's season six. But
you're you're the singer in a like a kiss style
rock band. Yeah, yeah, heavy metal. It's like, you know,
it's kind of implied that it's satanic maybe a little bit. Yeah,
people are protesting the concert.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Yeah, were singing Devil Take Me, you know, I mean
it was like Satan worship, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, so that's actually you singing the song.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Right, Actually not. No. What happened was I was supposed
to because they knew that I sang yeah, and I
was going to do it. And then the a day
or two before I was supposed to go and to
record it, I came down with this really kind of
you know, chess cold or whatever. And no, I was
like going, I don't know how I'm going to sing.
(26:44):
And so they they told my agent told them and
and they said, no, problemly, you know, we have somebody,
you know, studio singer that can do it. So I
was supposed to but I wound up not, which is
too bad. It would have been nice to do it.
But the guy, the guy saying, it's great voice. And
it was fun lip syncing and performing to it. You know,
(27:07):
it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
There's a part in the performance where the character breathes
fire like it takes a swig of like was that you.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
No, No, that wasn't me. They had somebody a double,
you know, so I had a face paint and all
that in the hair, so you couldn't you couldn't really tell.
But yeah, I didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Was that fun making that episode and like playing that
kind of character?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun, you know,
because it was so different, you know, and I was
able to to bring out a whole different kind of
side and and what was interesting about it. Then they
showed in the episode, you know, at one point they
showed I'm taking my all that makeup off and you
(27:52):
see and then I'm like this regular normal kid. I'm
not that way. That was just an act, you know,
of this character. So that was kind of cool because
although maybe it would have been even more fun if
I continue, if that character came through even off stage,
but that's a whole different a different way. But but
(28:14):
it was kind of neat that you saw that I
was just this normal kid and then this was my act.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
You know, Yeah, I love it, And you're on a
couple episodes of Glee. Yeah, and it's so cool. And
you know now that I know you have this you
said have an incredible voice. We'll talk about your singing
in a bit, but you have this passion for music
(28:39):
and Glee is I mean, of course a musically centered show.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Was that was that? Like?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Is that what drew you to that show? Like what
brought you into the Glee universe?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It wasn't really that. I mean, yeah, the truth of
the matter was that that for that one, they I
went into audition like a bunch of other people. I
just went in and auditioned for it because they wanted,
you know, another ginger, a redhead, uh to be the
father to Emma and and that the woman to play
(29:09):
my wife would be a redhead that we were both gingers,
you know, And so I auditioned for it, and you know,
when I got the part, they music didn't enter into
it at all. It wasn't like, oh, then we're gonna
maybe have you you know, joined the cat in a
song or something like that. That never came up. So
it was just, yeah, it was just a regular, regular
(29:32):
casting thing where I went in and read for it.
But it was really fun because it was a great
It felt almost reminded me in some way of happy
days of how how well the cast worked together and
how well the crew work. You know. It was really
tight and well run and the people were great. So
(29:53):
it was a really good experience. But but then I,
you know, and then I played some other roles on
TV TV scrolls that were different. I did a two
part star Trek Voyager, where I played this sort of
you know, a doctor that had a lot of evil,
very you know what, not so well intentioned plans for
(30:16):
you know, he was like the villain. He was like
the villain of the piece. And so that was a
completely different role. So that's what helped I kept you know,
I kept chipping away and getting something a little bit different,
then something even more different, and then people were like
a little more open to trying me in different things.
But for a while I still had to audition for
(30:38):
you know, Chip Side. They just offered that to me,
and luckily I had to. And but I auditioned for
the Star Trek Voyager. It was tough because people are going,
wait this guy for that part, you know, and a
lot of times they wouldn't even let me read. But
then but then I'd come in and get some of
you know, get to read and get something. And then
(30:58):
it started opening up. And then I started getting some
independent films and a couple of studio films, small roles,
but it's just started, you know, cracking that that, you know,
the little opening in the wall start getting bigger and bigger.
And then as I got older, I think it got
(31:19):
a little easier because in the because I was more
distanced from that character in terms of age and time.
So although it's still on all the time, but obviously
I'm in a different age bracket. So in the last
five six years, as I think I mentioned, I've gotten
to do more more films and a wide variety of
(31:44):
different kinds of characters in the last four or five
years than I had in the ten years before that
or twenty years. So it's really been nice. And I
mentioned you have a film coming out yes March that's
very different, true story based on a book of the
same name called Harson's Island Revenge and during Prohibition, and
(32:07):
I play it's a very different role. I play the
head of this gang. It was a real gang called
the Purple Gang. You know, they were like a mob
and they were vicious and this intense role. So I'm
looking forward to I haven't seen it right, I'm looking
forward to that and having it come out. I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah, Harson's Island Revenge, it's coming soon. Be on the
lookout for that in theaters. And yeah, it's so cool.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
You know, I don't know whether it's Netflix or Amazon.
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
You were no slouched on most This man is working.
You have albums out too. I mean you can go
on Spotify or your streaming service and listen to your
latest is called New York High and what a voice, man,
I was listening to it this morning.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Incredible.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, Well, as I mentioned,
you know, singing was my first first love, so to speak.
And so it wasn't like, you know, all I decided,
you know, at the age of you know, fifty five
or whatever it was, that now, you know, I'll try
to do this. I mean, that's when I was in
(33:19):
my blood from the time I was nine years old
wanting to do that, and I did do it when
I was fifteen in those nightclubs, you know. So gutting
back to it was and I'd done some singing in between,
I did some musical theater, and every once in a
while they'd be some you know, something on television where
(33:40):
a variety show or telethon or where I'd get on
and I and i'd bring it out do some of
my some of that kind of music that I loved,
which were the you know, the Great American Songbook but
with the jazz field, jazz standards and swaying big band.
And although this latest one isn't so much big band,
it's a little more, but it's still the jazz standards,
(34:02):
but it has a more contemporary kind of feel. So
going back to it was, you know, it was like
you know, riding a bike. It's just it was always
always been there. So I decided. It was like about
ten years ago. I said, well, if I'm ever going
to do what I wanted to do with music, which
was to do my own show and in the style
(34:25):
or in the format of some of the greats that
I loved growing up, you know, whether it be Sinatra
or Nat King Cole, you know, Dino, Tony Bennett, all
the great singers, and especially Bobby Darren, who I saw
at the Copacabano when I was eighteen, and I was like,
(34:45):
oh my god. So I wanted to do a show
like that. And so I put it together, met a
musical director, and we got some great musicians, and we
tried it out at a jazz club in La It
was called It's Vitello, and and you know, I said,
let's I got to do it and see what happens.
And the show when people were like, well, wow, we
(35:07):
didn't know you could sing like that, and how come
you didn't sing more on happy days? Why did Patzi
get to do all the things? You know? I got
all that, And so it was a great response. And
then I did another club, and then I did some
in New York, you know, a couple of jazz clubs,
and and just and more and more in La and
then it led to me meeting a producer, a musician,
(35:30):
record producer, ranger named Willie Mario, and he he talked
to me about doing an album together, and we did
and that one's called The Most mostly swinging and with
a great big band of top La jazz guys, and
I was a blast. I loved it. And then another
(35:52):
album that like you just alluded to, a New York High,
which I did in Nashville with different musicians, different producer
because has a different vibe, different style. But it came
out really great too. So I'm real excited about that.
And I'm going to be doing a show here because
I'm living, like I said, live near Boulder, and I
(36:13):
did a show at a jazz club out here called
Dazzle in Denver, and they asked me to come back
really quick because you know, it went so well. So
I'm going back there and this Sunday I'm going to
be doing shit awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Okay, Well, if you're in the Boulder area and you
want to see hang around your local jazz club, you
never know who might pop up.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Don most might how long stage and sing some songs.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
In Denver Dazzle called Dazzle.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Yeah, all right, John Most, you're just the absolute best.
I have a couple more questions for you, if if
we can stick around just a few more moments here
on I Smell pop Culture. It's the icemo pop Culture
(37:02):
podcast on I Am all In. My name is Easton Allen,
and I'm sitting here with Don Most. We know him
as Ralph Mauth from Happy Days, but he's so much
more than that. So this is a Gilmore Girls podcast.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about
working with Mary and Ross. She was Mary in Cunningham
on Happy Days. She had she was in Gilmore Girls.
(37:24):
She had two roles in Gilmore Girls. Yeah, she played
She played Laura Lei's grandmother, the main the mom, the
main mom. Yeah, her her father's mother. It was Laurlai
Trixie Gilmore. But you got to work with her too
on Happy Days.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
What was that like?
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Oh, Maryon is the greatest. She's just it's so incredible.
I mean as a as a as a person, as
a just as a wonderful person and an actress. I
mean she was one of the best. What you see,
that's the way she is in a lot of what
(38:05):
you see. I mean, she's she also has range as
an actress and can play different characters. But but she's
got such a great heart, and she's just so vibrant
and and loving and funny and just unbelievable to work with.
And it reminds me I need to give her a call.
(38:27):
I haven't spoken to her in a while. And because
when I lived back in you know, the LA area,
I could pay her visits a little harder now, but
I'm gonna I want to give her a call. I'm
glad you brought her up. What was the other role
that she played on Gilmore Growth?
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Marion also played Marilyn Gilmore, who is TRIX's niece, So
the grandmother's niece, Marilyn Richard who is louralized dad. It's
her cousin, and she's in a couple episodes. But that's
the other She's in two episodes. That's the other character
that Marion Ross plays.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I'll have to try to kick those episodes.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, yeah, I'll send them over and then you can
you can tell her you like, hey, Mary, and I'm
just saw you Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, that's a good so you told me before we
started that you and your wife watched a big Gilmore
Girls when it was on.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Do you remember what was there something that stood out
to you about that show?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I mean, you're such a your sitcom like legend, so
I'm always interested when when guys that have your resume
and your experience, when you'll watch another show like this,
like kind of is there something stood out to you
about The Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
Well, I thought the writing was it was really really
good writing. I like the tone, the sensibility of it.
I really liked the actors. You know. I thought Lauren
Braham I'd never seen her before, and I thought she
was great. I loved her in that role and the
relationship that she had with her daughter. I'm sorry, I forget.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Her her name, Alexis Plodell was the daughter.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, and she was and she was really so refreshing
and genuine and and so that relationship between them I
just loved. I remember, and then and some of the
other characters. I didn't watch it, you know, for what
it was kind of regularly for a while, but then
you know, I lost touch with it for a while
and get back to it, so I don't and it
(40:23):
was a while ago because it was when it was
originally broadcast, so it was a while ago, but I
just remembered and the warmth it had and the humor.
I thought, all the combinations worked really well and the
cast awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
I mean, that's what we love about it too, and
I love that that that's what stood out to you.
Don Moss. You've just been so generous with your time.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us and
everybody listening. You should go check out Harson's Island Revenge
when it comes out in March, and uh yeah, and
also put on an episode Happy Days when you're sitting
at home, just put on and check out Ralph and
(41:02):
watch some great Ralph moments.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
He's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Well, thank you for I have to look on YouTube
for those great Ralph moments.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Don There are multiple, there's like if you look up
best Ralph moments, there's like ten that coming. Like people
can't pick their favorite. There's so many.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Yeah, you brought that up. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
That's awesome. Thank you so much, and I hope you
have a great rest of your day.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Appreciate it's a pleasure chatting with you. Really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Everybody I guess.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In Podcast,
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com
I am all in again. Oh, I guess you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I Smell pop Culture with Easton Allen and I Heart
Radio Podcast. Hey everybody, Easton Allen, I am all in
Podcasts one eleven productions. iHeart Media, iHeart Radio, iHeart podcast.
It's I Smell pop culture. I smell pop culture. You
smell pop culture. We'll smell pop culture. And we're smelling
it here. Baby, we are back. We are exploring the
(00:40):
pop culture references in Gilmore Girls that we love. We're
going deeper than just listing them off. We're taking We're
taking a submarine into these references and we're exploring what
makes them a part of pop culture. We're talking to
the people that created them, that wrote these songs, that
play these characters, that are these people.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
It's so exciting.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
My name is Easton Allen, and it's so great to
have you here with us. Something we love about Gilmore
Girls is that is the pop culture references. I mean,
that's the whole impetus for this podcast. And when you
look at the grand scheme of what they have done,
everything they've referenced, books, movies, television, real life people. There's
(01:23):
one TV show that rises above the rest, and the
fine folks at Vulture have tallied all the pop culture
references in Gilmore Girls and categorize them by you how
many what books were referenced, what movies, what songs? And
when you look at TV shows, the one that was
referenced the most is Happy Days. Five references to Happy Days,
(01:47):
and of course of Gilmore Girls more than any other
TV show. I'm not going to list them all here,
but I'm going to list my favorite one. In season two,
episode four, It's The Road to Harvard, Rory and Loralai
are walking around and Harvard campus pretending to be students,
and they have this lauraizes this like cringe conversation with
some real students versus pretending to be like, Oh, you're
(02:09):
gonna go the Pie Alpha Gamma thing tomorrow. And after
they leave, Roy says, Laura, you do realize that all
of your college kid jargon comes from Happy Days in
the Valley Girls song, right, such a sick burn. Besides
all the references, Happy Days in Gilmore Girls actually shares
an actor Mary and Ross. She was Mary in Cunningham
(02:30):
in Happy Days, she was the mom. She's also Tricks
in Gilmore Girls and Marilyn Tricks's niece. But we're not
talking to Mary and Ross today. We're talking to another
star of Happy Days. We're talking to Don Most. Don
Most played Ralph Mouth on Happy Days. And I don't
know how much Happy Days you guys have seen. If
you haven't seen that much, you are doing yourself a disservice.
(02:53):
You have to watch Happy Days. It's so funny. Ralph
Mouth is hysterical. He is so Everything he does is
so funny. He has such a great catchphrase, I still
got it, I still got it. It's so funny. We're
going to talk to Don mos all about that. But
here's the thing about Don Most. This man is a
layered performer. He is I mean, he was on one
of the most iconic and legendary sitcoms of all time.
(03:15):
But he's also he's directed movies, he guests starting a
million other shows, and he's a singer. This man has
the voice of an angel. He's got such an incredible voice,
and he's he's made some jazz albums. We're going to
talk about it all. We're gonna talk about Happy Days.
Don Mose is here with us. How's it going, Don, Oh,
It's going pretty well.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Thanks Thanks for asking it's a little cold. I live
in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Now, Oh wow, Yeah, I moved about.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
My wife and I moved here about a year and
a half ago, really liking it. Our daughter and granddaughter here,
so that was kind of the motivation. Oh excellent, we'll
pull right now.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Well, let's see. I want to go back to you
the beginning. I am so fascinated by Happy Days. It's
one of those it's just such a touchstone in TV history,
one of the most legendary shows of all time.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
How did you get involved with Happy Days? How did
that happen?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Okay? Well, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and
about the age of thirteen, I started going to a
school in Manhattan on Saturdays. I remember taking the subway
at thirteen from Brooklyn into Manhattan to a school a studio,
Charlie Lowe Studio. He was an old vaudeville performer and
(04:35):
he had a school for mainly kids and teenage uster singing, dancing.
I didn't really care about the dancing, but I had
to do some and acting, and that's when I started
going after it. And then I actually from there got
picked to beat in this nightclub review. So when I
(04:56):
was fifteen, I was part of this review of the teenagers,
seven of us singing in the hotels and nightclubs of
the Catskill Mountains, which was a big resort area upstate
New York where they had a lot of entertainment. So
that summer I was so that's like my first it was,
you know, singing really came before acting. But then I
(05:17):
switched my focus the next year really laser focused onto acting.
I really started getting into that and went to a
different school for that in New York and then started
getting I got a manager through that and going out
on auditions and doing doing a lot of TV commercials
(05:38):
and some little theater work, but you know, came real
close on a couple of Broadway shows. But then I
went out to LA This was this summer after my
junior year in college. I was twenty now, and so
I went out there to try to sort of plant
the seeds and so that when I graduated yor later,
(06:01):
i'd have some footing already. So I went out there
and I was able to get agent, and I went
out on auditions during the summer and booked a couple
of guest roles on TV shows. So then my agent
said you know, instead of going back to school, take
six months off. You got some momentum going, you know.
(06:21):
So I said, yeah, I think that's a great idea,
and you have to think more than a second. So
I didn't go back for my senior year for six months,
and then went to started going out on auditions, got
one or two more jobs, and then nothing for like
a couple of months, and then I thought I made
a mistake. But then my agent said, I'll have an
(06:45):
audition for you for a pilot for a new series
takes place in the fifties and called Happy Days. And
so that's how I went in on the audition. They
called me back. I did another one. Then I had
a screen test, and then uh, then I was screen
testing for the role of Potzi. Uh. But then but
(07:07):
they came back and they said that, you know, you
didn't get Pozzi. Anson Williams had and Ron Howard actually
screen tested, even though a year and a half earlier
they had done a pilot for the same show with
a different name, but it didn't sell. Now it's a
year and a half later, and and and Greece is
a hit on Broadway, and American Graffiti is a hit.
(07:31):
So they ABC was like, oh, we had a show.
And they went back to Gary Marshall and said, we
want to redo the pilot, but you know, you might
need to recast because they thought Answering and Ron might
be too old now because it was like two years later.
But Gary wanted Ron and Answer, but he had to
go through screen testing them along side a bunch of
(07:52):
other hopefuls, myself included. So they called me and said, no,
they've got to go with Ron and Anson and yeah,
and you know, but they liked your screen test so
much they want to sort of create a role for
you to be on the show. They said, there's a
small role in the pilot, a guy named Ralph, you know,
Ralph Mouth. He's he's into cars, He's got a cool car.
(08:15):
He's a bit of a wiresecracker, that's all I said.
And and so so I decided. So I decided I
would do it, and because I was up for another
role at the same time, and long story, and I
actually passed on Happy Days on the Friday night. But
then on Monday I changed my mind because my agent
(08:38):
played basketball at Gary Marshall's house on Saturday, and Gary
talked to my agent and sweetened the deal that they
offered me and and said told my agent they thought
it had a great chance of getting on the air.
So then yeah, because because the other one there was
a dramatic World War two TV movie and I I
(09:00):
was really more into dramatic, wanting to do drama. Then
all the parts that I had gotten leading up to
this one, except for one, they were dramatic roles. So
that's I was, you know, and I've said to my
I can do comedy, you know, if it's a if
the script is good and the writing's good, you know,
the character. So that's why I passed. But then now
(09:21):
after hearing what mys has said, so you know, we
decided burn hand, let's let's take it. And so that's
how that's how that came about.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's so interesting that you were more drawn to drama.
You're so funny in happy days, like you're hysteric. I
was watching the other day, like a clip on YouTube.
It was like best Ralph Mouth moments. Really yeah, and
it's every single time you say I still got it,
that just I burst out laughing. It's everything is so
funny that you do on that show.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Oh thank you, thank you. Yeah, well you know, and
I wasn't like that character, but you know, it's to
me that was the joy of acting. That's why I
was saying to you a little earlier that I loved
playing a wide variety of different kinds of roles, and
I've been getting to do that. It was tough, you know,
after Happy Days, because you're so associated with that character
(10:14):
and that style of comedy. So it was tough. But yeah,
I wasn't like that guy, but that, you know, that
was the joy of acting. And I was, and I
based him on people I knew, and in even our
director Jerry Parris reminded me very I said, he's more
like this character than I am. And I would, you know,
get ideas from Jerry steel things from him. As a
(10:36):
matter of fact, that line, I still got it. I borrowed,
stole it from That was what Jerry used to say
when he would when he would crack us up, and
he'd get a good laugh and say, I still got it,
you know. So one day I decided it wasn't in
the script, and we were doing a scene in Arnold's
in front of an audience, and I came was supposed
(11:00):
to come in the scene and say something funny and
the guy's crack up. So before we shot it, I
went up to Ron Howard because he was the one
in the doing dialogue right with me in that, and
I said, I'm not going to tell you what I'm saying,
but just get ready so that I don't throw you too,
which I'm going to say something that's not in the script.
I just decided it was a perfect time to do it,
(11:22):
and so I did it, and every day all cracked up.
The audience didn't even know, but they loved it, and
Jerry Parris was cracking up, and so then you know,
they loved it so much. Then the writers started putting
it in, you know, in different situations, and so that's
how that came about.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
I'm so thank you for telling that story because I'm
so curious, how like when you have like a catchphrase
like that, I'm always curious, like is it I don't
want to say manufactured, but like, did the writers keep
putting it in? Hearing that you just added it and
then basically reaction from the audience, I mean, that's so
beautiful and organic it.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, and they wrote some of the others, you know,
like sit on it. I remember the writers came up
with that, and they were a couple of others. You know,
Henry Winkler came up with his own because his his
gesture and his a you know, that was something that
came from Henry. But uh, but there were a few
others that the writers did, but that one, Uh, that
(12:20):
one I owe to Jerry. But but it was a
good idea for me to use it that particular time.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yes, I mean, someone else invents the guitar, but it
takes an artist to play it.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
I think that's that's, you know, good analogy.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
There's a couple Your timing is so I don't want
to kiss you ask too much, don but your timing
is so great on that show too. There's a couple
of times that I was watching in this like clip
thing where you don't you say the line and then
you don't even really wait for the other characters to react,
so you just launch with I still got it. And
it's that makes it even funnier. It's just it's so
it's so great, and I was curious to like, so
(12:56):
in the first season, you're Ralph is kind of like
a like a side.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
Character you're supporting.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
Yeah, and then it's season two I mean your main cast,
you're rain core. What was that transition like, going from
getting bumped up like that?
Speaker 3 (13:13):
Well, I mean it was great the evolution of that.
And I often tell people, you know, if they're maybe
introducing their kids to the show, or they say, oh,
I love the show, but I haven't seen it in
so long, and I know that there's reruns going on.
You know, you could see it now. So I often
tell people what you should do is watch it from
(13:34):
because you could do it now. Watch it from the
first show and chronologically take it because you'll see a
real evolution. And you're right at the beginning, you know,
they told me, you know, I was going to be this,
you know, it was a small character. But they they say,
we'll do seven out of thirteen episodes or something like that.
(13:54):
You know. But then we started, you know, they started
really liking what Harry too. Henry was just the same
supporting type of character. But we started doing some things
that they were really liking, you know, the producers and
the director and Jerry Parris, who was our director. I
would come up with things that weren't in the script.
(14:17):
I'd have ideas because I wanted to make it a
little bigger, you know. So I'd come up with things
and he'd really like it, and so we'd do it.
And we were not in front of an audience those
first two seasons, so you could do stuff like that.
It was like shooting a movie, you know. And and
so they the writers started seeing the producers, so they
started making it a little bigger, and slowly I wasn't like,
(14:41):
you know, it was Richie and Possi that were best friends.
Ralph who's like this guy that you know, they're kind
of friendly with, but you know, he wasn't core, like
you said. And then they started getting more friendly with Ralph,
and he'd started including me in more and more things,
you know, and it just kind of evolved in that way,
and like you said, by season two, it was even
(15:02):
probably towards the middle late part of season one where
where it was getting pretty good, and then season two
definitely even more so. And then in the third season
when we went in front of an audience, it probably
continued in that in that fashion.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Now, like if you stop someone on the street and
ask them about happy days, like they're probably going to
bring up Fonsie, you know, like that that's like he's
kind of the de facto mascot of the show. I'd say,
when when that character and like Henry's like popularity just
like went into the stratosphere, what was that like for
the for you and the rest of the cast.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
Was it was there any like weirdness or anything like that?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Not really, no, I mean luckily, you know, people ask,
you know, how did you really get along that well?
And was it you know, because we say we were
like a family and all that, and then they were
wondering if how accurate that was, and and it was
for some it was. Well, you have to give the
executive producers a lot of credit for the casting of
(16:04):
the show, the way they picked their people, because there
was such a sort of immediate connection that we all
had and respect for each other and developed a real
fondness and affection and grew into we were really a
type family. And then when and we were rooting for
each other, you know, and then when when Henry really,
(16:27):
like you said, burst into this stratosphere, it was exciting,
you know, it's really exciting to see it. And we
knew it was good for the show, you know, so
we never really it wasn't the jealousy and that kind
of you know, resentment or anything like that. I mean,
there might have been a couple of moments here and
there where we would look at something that happened and
(16:51):
you know, like the network ABC, you know, would be
fawning over him so much, and you know and kind
of ignoring us. You know, yeah, you know, the gifts
like they give gifts at Christmas, and we'd all get
this sort of normal gift and then Henry got like
something crazy, you know, So then there was a little
like wait a minute, you know, we're feeling like what
(17:12):
are we chopped liver? You know. Yeah, but we didn't
have any uh any hard feelings in any resentment to
Henry at all, you know, I mean we was excited
and as Anson would say, why why would have you upset?
Henry bought me my house, you know, because meaning that
the show got you know, so popular and number one
(17:34):
in the country that you know, it kept going and
made everybody more money and so so I mean he
was joking, but it was a good joke. But anyway,
there were no there was none of that weird stuff.
It was all support and excitement and happiness.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
That's great.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
That makes me happy that that is a hard woman
to hear, you and Anson became very close on the show,
and that's something I think. I know, you guys aren't
your characters. I mean, that's something you've had to deal
with forever. But like I think fans love hearing that
kind of things, like, oh, they're actually like they're close friends,
they hang out in real life. How did that friendship develop?
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Well, you know, the friendship with all of us, like
I said, just happened pretty quickly and just kept growing.
So we were all really great friends. But I'd say
now like Anson and I like best friends, and we're
probably even better friends than we were back then. That
(18:37):
just you know, And there were some years where we
didn't see each other that much because after I left
the show after the seventh season, because they went for
four more years after I left, so I didn't see
Answer as much. And then we'd see each other here
and there, and he was very busy directing a lot,
and so it wasn't until we, I don't know, we
(18:59):
got together for some baseball game that we were playing
together and we just kind of said, hey, we got
to get together more. And then we started to and
we lived pretty close at this point. Twenty minutes away,
So we just started doing more and more things together.
Ron was now living on the on the East Coast,
and Henry was still out in California, but he was
(19:23):
busy and so I didn't see him as much. But Answer,
I just became tighter and tighter, you know. So like
now it's great and we're still all four, you know,
still friends. We have like a group text so that
the four of us, so that somebody texts, you know,
and we all get it and we chime in, and
so it's nice. It's a great way to keep it up,
(19:45):
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Oh that's all that makes me so happy that rules.
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Is it true that you and Answer we're going to
have a spin off together?
Speaker 1 (19:52):
I heard that.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Yeah, yeah, that was a whole thing. What happened was
they I guess they had the idea because they wrote
an episode where the two of us decided to share
an apartment together, and and you know, it became like
an odd couple kind of thing. It was a funny episode.
And then they then they showed it, you know, the network,
(20:15):
and they go, yeah, yeah, this could be a show.
And then they started talking more about it and they
wanted to cast a girlfriend for me, and we had
to bring in. We were reading with different girls, and
I initially, when the executive producers talked to me about it,
I wasn't sure I wanted to do that, because you know,
(20:37):
i'd been playing this role for five six years at
that point, I guess, and I knew what I was
going to be facing when it was over, trying to
get away from that so that I could play different
kinds of roles and not just that. So I wasn't sure.
And you know, we were doing great as a show.
I wasn't sure about it, but they they kept talking
(21:00):
to me and talked to me okay, made me think, okay,
let's do it. And then it looked like it was
I mean, they were already recording the title song, you know,
for it, and then all of a sudden we hear
ABC decided they're not going to do it. And I'm
not sure what what happened, but I wasn't too upset,
(21:21):
you know, I was kind of like, Okay, you know,
it's not going you know where. Maybe in a different situation,
I would have been pretty disappointed, but so I think
it's it's probably better that we didn't even go there,
because you know, spin offs are tough some of them.
I mean Happy Days had so many Yeah, and la Verne,
(21:43):
Shirley and Mork and Mindy didn't do too bad. But
there were a few others that I don't think you know,
that didn't make it. And it's it's always a little tricky.
So anyway, that's the story there, And like I said,
I was fine when when it didn't go.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
Everything happens for a reason. Don Most is with us
from Happy Days. We have so much more to get into.
It's the ICE Smell Pop Culture Podcast. Stick around, everybody,
We'll be right back. It's the I Smell pop Culture Podcast.
We're here at Don Most, the legendary Don Most. Something
(22:27):
I really want to ask you about. I'm so curious.
I Ron Howard said that you were the one who
actually coined the phrase jumping the shark. Like that was
the story I heard on behalf of Ron Howard. Is
that you look down the script and you're like, we're
jumping sharks.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Now, that is that right?
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Yeah? Well, yes, yeah, I mean he's right, And I
heard some people I think sent me a link to
the interview where he gave where he said that, and
he's right, But I don't know that the way it
caught on in our vernacular, if you will, in the culture.
(23:06):
I don't know how that whether the thread was from
me or not, because what happened was, like Ron said, uh,
this was about the fifth season, I think, and and
and I was starting. Ron and I talked a bunch
about this during that year because we felt that the
scripts just weren't great that year, you know, like it
(23:27):
was starting to get a little far fetched, or you know,
because Phonsie was character was so popular that I think
ABC started like pushing, you know, the right pushing the
executives of our show and producers you got to do
keep doing more with you know, with Phonsie. We loved
when he snapped his fingers and he made all the
(23:49):
animals stop making noise or whatever, you know, and that
was a funny bit. But then they just kept wanting
to do more and more of that, and it started
getting a little ridiculous, you know, and we were feeling
the scripts are just going in a insurrection, and so
then there was a reading Mondays. We would all sit
(24:10):
around the table, those cast, the writer's producers and read
through the script that was going to be done for
this you know, that week and to shoot that Friday.
So we're reading the script and you know, and then
after it's over, you know, Ron and I kind of
walked over to the side or something, and and Ron's
(24:32):
kind of like, you know, what do you think. I
don't know, what do you think about this script? And
I looked at it. It was right. I remember it.
I said, now they got him jumping a shark, and
and Roan remembered I'd forgotten that I had said those
exact words, but I think I did. I probably did.
(24:52):
I remember saying to him, now they got Phonsie doing
you know, viz and and so I I don't know
how that would have gotten beyond me and Ron so
that it got out there. But somehow, you know, I
guess these these guys that had some kind of I
don't know, I heard these guys had started started it
(25:15):
by saying this is you know, when a show they
coined the phrase jumping the shark, and that's when a
show starts to you know, it's hit its peak and
now it's starting to lose lose its lose ground. So
I don't he wasn't in the room and I said that.
So I don't know how it You know, so I
can't take credit, but I probably did say it first.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
I'm attributing it to you Don Moss here that you
came up with that phrase. Uh so moving on from
happy is a little bit that You've had so many
incredible roles. I want to ask you. There's one that
caught my eye that I want to ask you about.
You were on an episode of Chips Yes Rock Devil
Rock and anyone listening if you have, if you have
not done a Chip's Deep Dive, you should and you
(25:59):
should watch this episode. I think it's season six. But
you're you're the singer in a like a kiss style
rock band. Yeah, yeah, heavy metal. It's like, you know,
it's kind of implied that it's satanic maybe a little bit. Yeah,
people are protesting the concert.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Yeah, were singing Devil Take Me, you know, I mean
it was like Satan worship, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Yeah, so that's actually you singing the song.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
Right, Actually not. No. What happened was I was supposed
to because they knew that I sang yeah, and I
was going to do it. And then the a day
or two before I was supposed to go and to
record it, I came down with this really kind of
you know, chess cold or whatever. And no, I was
like going, I don't know how I'm going to sing.
(26:44):
And so they they told my agent told them and
and they said, no, problemly, you know, we have somebody,
you know, studio singer that can do it. So I
was supposed to but I wound up not, which is
too bad. It would have been nice to do it.
But the guy, the guy saying, it's great voice. And
it was fun lip syncing and performing to it. You know,
(27:07):
it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
There's a part in the performance where the character breathes
fire like it takes a swig of like was that you.
Speaker 3 (27:16):
No, No, that wasn't me. They had somebody a double,
you know, so I had a face paint and all
that in the hair, so you couldn't you couldn't really tell.
But yeah, I didn't do that.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Was that fun making that episode and like playing that
kind of character?
Speaker 3 (27:31):
Yeah, it was. It was a lot of fun, you know,
because it was so different, you know, and I was
able to to bring out a whole different kind of
side and and what was interesting about it. Then they
showed in the episode, you know, at one point they
showed I'm taking my all that makeup off and you
(27:52):
see and then I'm like this regular normal kid. I'm
not that way. That was just an act, you know,
of this character. So that was kind of cool because
although maybe it would have been even more fun if
I continue, if that character came through even off stage,
but that's a whole different a different way. But but
(28:14):
it was kind of neat that you saw that I
was just this normal kid and then this was my act.
Speaker 2 (28:19):
You know, Yeah, I love it, And you're on a
couple episodes of Glee. Yeah, and it's so cool. And
you know now that I know you have this you
said have an incredible voice. We'll talk about your singing
in a bit, but you have this passion for music
(28:39):
and Glee is I mean, of course a musically centered show.
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Was that was that? Like?
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Is that what drew you to that show? Like what
brought you into the Glee universe?
Speaker 3 (28:48):
It wasn't really that. I mean, yeah, the truth of
the matter was that that for that one, they I
went into audition like a bunch of other people. I
just went in and auditioned for it because they wanted,
you know, another ginger, a redhead, uh to be the
father to Emma and and that the woman to play
(29:09):
my wife would be a redhead that we were both gingers,
you know, And so I auditioned for it, and you know,
when I got the part, they music didn't enter into
it at all. It wasn't like, oh, then we're gonna
maybe have you you know, joined the cat in a
song or something like that. That never came up. So
it was just, yeah, it was just a regular, regular
(29:32):
casting thing where I went in and read for it.
But it was really fun because it was a great
It felt almost reminded me in some way of happy
days of how how well the cast worked together and
how well the crew work. You know. It was really
tight and well run and the people were great. So
(29:53):
it was a really good experience. But but then I,
you know, and then I played some other roles on
TV TV scrolls that were different. I did a two
part star Trek Voyager, where I played this sort of
you know, a doctor that had a lot of evil,
very you know what, not so well intentioned plans for
(30:16):
you know, he was like the villain. He was like
the villain of the piece. And so that was a
completely different role. So that's what helped I kept you know,
I kept chipping away and getting something a little bit different,
then something even more different, and then people were like
a little more open to trying me in different things.
But for a while I still had to audition for
(30:38):
you know, Chip Side. They just offered that to me,
and luckily I had to. And but I auditioned for
the Star Trek Voyager. It was tough because people are going,
wait this guy for that part, you know, and a
lot of times they wouldn't even let me read. But
then but then I'd come in and get some of
you know, get to read and get something. And then
(30:58):
it started opening up. And then I started getting some
independent films and a couple of studio films, small roles,
but it's just started, you know, cracking that that, you know,
the little opening in the wall start getting bigger and bigger.
And then as I got older, I think it got
(31:19):
a little easier because in the because I was more
distanced from that character in terms of age and time.
So although it's still on all the time, but obviously
I'm in a different age bracket. So in the last
five six years, as I think I mentioned, I've gotten
to do more more films and a wide variety of
(31:44):
different kinds of characters in the last four or five
years than I had in the ten years before that
or twenty years. So it's really been nice. And I
mentioned you have a film coming out yes March that's
very different, true story based on a book of the
same name called Harson's Island Revenge and during Prohibition, and
(32:07):
I play it's a very different role. I play the
head of this gang. It was a real gang called
the Purple Gang. You know, they were like a mob
and they were vicious and this intense role. So I'm
looking forward to I haven't seen it right, I'm looking
forward to that and having it come out. I can't wait.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Yeah, Harson's Island Revenge, it's coming soon. Be on the
lookout for that in theaters. And yeah, it's so cool.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
You know, I don't know whether it's Netflix or Amazon.
We'll see.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
You were no slouched on most This man is working.
You have albums out too. I mean you can go
on Spotify or your streaming service and listen to your
latest is called New York High and what a voice, man,
I was listening to it this morning.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Incredible.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, Well, as I mentioned,
you know, singing was my first first love, so to speak.
And so it wasn't like, you know, all I decided,
you know, at the age of you know, fifty five
or whatever it was, that now, you know, I'll try
to do this. I mean, that's when I was in
(33:19):
my blood from the time I was nine years old
wanting to do that, and I did do it when
I was fifteen in those nightclubs, you know. So gutting
back to it was and I'd done some singing in between,
I did some musical theater, and every once in a
while they'd be some you know, something on television where
(33:40):
a variety show or telethon or where I'd get on
and I and i'd bring it out do some of
my some of that kind of music that I loved,
which were the you know, the Great American Songbook but
with the jazz field, jazz standards and swaying big band.
And although this latest one isn't so much big band,
it's a little more, but it's still the jazz standards,
(34:02):
but it has a more contemporary kind of feel. So
going back to it was, you know, it was like
you know, riding a bike. It's just it was always
always been there. So I decided. It was like about
ten years ago. I said, well, if I'm ever going
to do what I wanted to do with music, which
was to do my own show and in the style
(34:25):
or in the format of some of the greats that
I loved growing up, you know, whether it be Sinatra
or Nat King Cole, you know, Dino, Tony Bennett, all
the great singers, and especially Bobby Darren, who I saw
at the Copacabano when I was eighteen, and I was like,
(34:45):
oh my god. So I wanted to do a show
like that. And so I put it together, met a
musical director, and we got some great musicians, and we
tried it out at a jazz club in La It
was called It's Vitello, and and you know, I said,
let's I got to do it and see what happens.
And the show when people were like, well, wow, we
(35:07):
didn't know you could sing like that, and how come
you didn't sing more on happy days? Why did Patzi
get to do all the things? You know? I got
all that, And so it was a great response. And
then I did another club, and then I did some
in New York, you know, a couple of jazz clubs,
and and just and more and more in La and
then it led to me meeting a producer, a musician,
(35:30):
record producer, ranger named Willie Mario, and he he talked
to me about doing an album together, and we did
and that one's called The Most mostly swinging and with
a great big band of top La jazz guys, and
I was a blast. I loved it. And then another
(35:52):
album that like you just alluded to, a New York High,
which I did in Nashville with different musicians, different producer
because has a different vibe, different style. But it came
out really great too. So I'm real excited about that.
And I'm going to be doing a show here because
I'm living, like I said, live near Boulder, and I
(36:13):
did a show at a jazz club out here called
Dazzle in Denver, and they asked me to come back
really quick because you know, it went so well. So
I'm going back there and this Sunday I'm going to
be doing shit awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Okay, Well, if you're in the Boulder area and you
want to see hang around your local jazz club, you
never know who might pop up.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Don most might how long stage and sing some songs.
That's awesome.
Speaker 3 (36:37):
In Denver Dazzle called Dazzle.
Speaker 2 (36:40):
Yeah, all right, John Most, you're just the absolute best.
I have a couple more questions for you, if if
we can stick around just a few more moments here
on I Smell pop Culture. It's the icemo pop Culture
(37:02):
podcast on I Am all In. My name is Easton Allen,
and I'm sitting here with Don Most. We know him
as Ralph Mauth from Happy Days, but he's so much
more than that. So this is a Gilmore Girls podcast.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you about
working with Mary and Ross. She was Mary in Cunningham
on Happy Days. She had she was in Gilmore Girls.
(37:24):
She had two roles in Gilmore Girls. Yeah, she played
She played Laura Lei's grandmother, the main the mom, the
main mom. Yeah, her her father's mother. It was Laurlai
Trixie Gilmore. But you got to work with her too
on Happy Days.
Speaker 1 (37:44):
What was that like?
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Oh, Maryon is the greatest. She's just it's so incredible.
I mean as a as a as a person, as
a just as a wonderful person and an actress. I
mean she was one of the best. What you see,
that's the way she is in a lot of what
(38:05):
you see. I mean, she's she also has range as
an actress and can play different characters. But but she's
got such a great heart, and she's just so vibrant
and and loving and funny and just unbelievable to work with.
And it reminds me I need to give her a call.
(38:27):
I haven't spoken to her in a while. And because
when I lived back in you know, the LA area,
I could pay her visits a little harder now, but
I'm gonna I want to give her a call. I'm
glad you brought her up. What was the other role
that she played on Gilmore Growth?
Speaker 2 (38:43):
Marion also played Marilyn Gilmore, who is TRIX's niece, So
the grandmother's niece, Marilyn Richard who is louralized dad. It's
her cousin, and she's in a couple episodes. But that's
the other She's in two episodes. That's the other character
that Marion Ross plays.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
I'll have to try to kick those episodes.
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, yeah, I'll send them over and then you can
you can tell her you like, hey, Mary, and I'm
just saw you Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 1 (39:10):
What was that like?
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, that's a good so you told me before we
started that you and your wife watched a big Gilmore
Girls when it was on.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Do you remember what was there something that stood out
to you about that show?
Speaker 2 (39:24):
I mean, you're such a your sitcom like legend, so
I'm always interested when when guys that have your resume
and your experience, when you'll watch another show like this,
like kind of is there something stood out to you
about The Gilmore Girls.
Speaker 3 (39:37):
Well, I thought the writing was it was really really
good writing. I like the tone, the sensibility of it.
I really liked the actors. You know. I thought Lauren
Braham I'd never seen her before, and I thought she
was great. I loved her in that role and the
relationship that she had with her daughter. I'm sorry, I forget.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Her her name, Alexis Plodell was the daughter.
Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, and she was and she was really so refreshing
and genuine and and so that relationship between them I
just loved. I remember, and then and some of the
other characters. I didn't watch it, you know, for what
it was kind of regularly for a while, but then
you know, I lost touch with it for a while
and get back to it, so I don't and it
(40:23):
was a while ago because it was when it was
originally broadcast, so it was a while ago, but I
just remembered and the warmth it had and the humor.
I thought, all the combinations worked really well and the
cast awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
I mean, that's what we love about it too, and
I love that that that's what stood out to you.
Don Moss. You've just been so generous with your time.
Thank you so much for hanging out with us and
everybody listening. You should go check out Harson's Island Revenge
when it comes out in March, and uh yeah, and
also put on an episode Happy Days when you're sitting
at home, just put on and check out Ralph and
(41:02):
watch some great Ralph moments.
Speaker 1 (41:03):
He's so much fun.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
Well, thank you for I have to look on YouTube
for those great Ralph moments.
Speaker 2 (41:10):
Don There are multiple, there's like if you look up
best Ralph moments, there's like ten that coming. Like people
can't pick their favorite. There's so many.
Speaker 3 (41:20):
Yeah, you brought that up. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
That's awesome. Thank you so much, and I hope you
have a great rest of your day.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Appreciate it's a pleasure chatting with you. Really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1 (41:58):
Everybody I guess.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Follow us on Instagram at I Am all In Podcast,
and email us at Gilmore at iHeartRadio dot com
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Amy Sugarman
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Scott Patterson
Tara Soudbaksh
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